Skadi

Skadi as depicted on the Skadi Forum.

I have been thinking a lot about the Norse goddesses of late, having just written a short essay on Hel for an online course I'm doing, and I am especially drawn to Skadi, goddess of Winter and the Hunt, amongst other things. Something about the cold remoteness of the Scandinavian landscape that so shapes Norse mythology speaks to me. This wonderful song by Hagalaz Runedance - "Wave Skadi" - captures her exactly as I see her in my mind's eye.

Paganism is not Fascism

Just wanted to bring your attention to this campaign and to pledge my support for it. Thanks to Bodecea (http://bodecea.blogspot.com/) for posting on it. Having done a bit of academic work on both Nazism and neo-Nazism as well as having my own interest in Paganism, I have been horrified to see the way in which Paganism is sometimes appropriated to support the extreme right. This campaign - "Paganism is not Fascism" - is targetting just that. Well done.

Soundtrack for the Goddess

Yet another music clip, I know. But this song, which I have loved for years, I just happened to see on You Tube just now and it so much suits where I am at spirituality at the moment. I am doing lots and lots of reading on the Goddess and this just feels perfect.

Persephone

I've recently bought this beautiful statue of Persephone from www.goddessgift.net It's so gorgeous...I adore it. I am looking to build up a collection of goddess statues for my small altar in the bedroom, you see. I love Persephone who is at once beautiful, young and innocent in the form of the Maiden of Springtime but also sad, world-weary and wise as the Goddess of the Underworld. I respond strongly to the story of Persephone and her mother Demeter too, as the ultimate tale of descent and renewal.

Aphrodite

The image above by Thalia Took.

I went to a beautiful workshop last Wednesday night which worked with the energy of the Greek Goddess Aphrodite. Aphrodite is the Goddess of love of all kinds as well as, therefore, sensuality and sex. As I result I found that most of the images that I encountered when I googled 'Aphrodite' for this blog, were very sexualised, modern representations. Now, don't misunderstand me. I know that a key part of many of the strands of Paganism is a far more honest and sensual understanding of sexuality than can be found in Christianity. But that's just it - in Paganism, sexuality is a vital part of life, it is part of woman's strength and it is in fact sacred. Priestesses of Aphrodite, for example, performed sacred sexual rites at her temples.

But modern sexuality lends something different to the idea of a Goddess of Love. She is depicted as an objectified, passive figure, trussed up for the male gaze in stilettos and eensy-weensy bikinis. Sexuality is not hers. She is the object of the sexuality of others. And this is the difficulty I have in coming to terms with the often forthright aspects of sexuality and sensuality within the Pagan spiritual realm. For so long I have been inculcated with the modern view of sex, that I tend to shy away from honest representations of it. So much has been lost or at least distorted in our patriarchical society. So much needs to be re-learnt.

Creator/Destroyer

The remains of the Temple of Mercury at the Heiligenberg. Photo from Google.

I suppose it shouldn't surprise me exactly, but I was still shocked to learn yesterday from a friend about the number of Christian churches which were built directly on top of pagan sites of worship. One key example is the Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome, which literally means the Saint Mary church over Minerva since the site was devoted to the Roman goddess Minerva and, some suggest, Isis in still earlier times. There are examples throughout Europe and Martin of Tours even went so far as to destroy sacred trees. The victors write history, I suppose. Or, at least, they used to.

This brings to mind the site of the Heiligenberg in Heidelberg, Germany, which we had the pleasure of visiting with our good friends Bodecea and WirrLicht in 2006. Meaning essentially Sacred Mountain, it has seen much construction and reconstruction over the centuries as various faiths have had supersedence. Bodecea talks about it at - http://kultplatz.blogspot.com/2007/01/der-heiligenberg.html

Oh, for some tolerance, without this need to destroy, grab and claim.

Ostara

Image from the brilliant Thalia Took at www.thaliatook.com

Warm wishes to my Northern friends as you celebrate Ostara, brimming with the promise of Spring's growth.

In print!

One of my photos used in the article.

I am delighted to announce that my dear spiritual sister Bodecea (http://bodecea.blogspot.com/) and I have written an article for the Australian magazine The Spirit Guide to Spellcraft (http://www.spellcraft.com.au/) and that I have just received my copy! It looks great, I have to say - I am really pleased with it. We have written about Northern magic traditions from the perspectives of one of us being in the Northern Hemisphere and one of us in the South so it is really in a lot of ways about the complexities of having an interest in a religion which is spiritually very connected to a particular place. That is, what do I draw on imaginatively when I am surrounded not by the fir trees of a European forest but by Australian gum trees? A perennial question in Pagan circles!

Thank you Bodecea for sharing your knowledge with me so that we could put this article together.

Nerthus

Nicanthiel Hrafnhild, Boar, Birch and Bog from www.gullinburstipress.com

Painting from http://www.jok-design.de/

I have lately been reading about the Norse goddess Nerthus, of the Vanir pantheon. Goddess of fertility and the earth but also peace. She represents something of a Gaia figure, I think. Does anyone else know anything about her? I love the painting of her above - it exudes such calm and quiet strength. I have just ordered Boar, Birch & Bog - Prayers to Nerthus by Nicanthiel Hrafnhild. Looks really interesting. I am so enjoying this spiritual path I'm on right now - whole worlds are opening up.

Enjoy your weekend.

Ravens

Odin with Hugin and Munin, from www.pixeltart.blogspot.com/

A Celtic representation of the raven from http://www.wildravens.net/

Image from www.fragmentsfromfloyd.com/

Sat in the yard last night just as night was falling, watching with quiet delight all of the bird life making its way home for the evening. Mynah birds were scared out of the flowering gum by magpies; magpies took flight when the ravens arrived. But the tiniest of tiny birds hopped merrily on from branch to branch, unconcerned by the power plays fluttering around her.

Ravens always catch my eye. I believe they are ravens in this part of the world and not crows but I'm not sure. I have seen a couple of them in gorgeous swooping flight these last few dusks and I just have to stop and stare as they glide overhead, wings extended. Ravens and crows have bad reputations for their tendency to feed on carrion. In mythology, they are contradictory figures, associated with death and battle in Celtic mythology but also with life and creation. They are tricksters but also wise - such as Odin's ravens Hugin and Munin. Light and dark, life and death, both sides of the one coin. Just the sort of totem animal for the Dark Wood.

Looking up into the sky last night, how I wanted to be a raven! Wheeling and swooping, the air fluttering through my wings as I moved freely on, the world my oyster. It made me think of Wendy Rule's song "The Wolf Sky":

We lay within the bird

That lay beneath the Wolf Sky

We lay within its wing and

We felt the bird within us...

The Great Cosmic Mother

Image from www.monicasjoo.com/

I am reading The Great Cosmic Mother - Rediscovering the Religion of the Earth by Monica Sjöö and Barbara Mohr and it, along with a couple of other books on similar themes, are really changing the way I look at the world. Mostly this is fantastic but sometimes it can be a little disconcerting when one's compass completely shifts! Nevermind - it's worth it. The extent of the silencing of the female voice in spirituality has shocked me as has the extent to which we by and large accept this silencing. I am still reading this wonderful book so I might comment a bit more extensively soon. Has anyone else read it?

Yesterday I discovered Monica Sjöö's website (www.monicasjoo.com/) which displays her amazing art as well as looking at her life and ideas. Above is one of her drawings, "Cathedral Event". Sadly Monica died at the comparatively young age of 66. You might be interested to read about her fascinating life in this obituary from the Guardian -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/sep/23/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries1

Paganism for you at home

I was interested and shocked to read this article:

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/newshome/Paganist-protests-as-health-visitor.6010145.jp

It brings up a few points in my view. First, that Pagan beliefs should be kept from children and second, that people with mental health issues should not concurrently hold Pagan beliefs. Both points seem to suggest there's something not entirely 'healthy' about Pagan views. I would be very interested to know how many children have been both emotionally and physically damaged by their parents' staunch Christian views. It would out-weigh those parents espousing some of the more problematic aspects of Paganism I'd suggest. And there's no denying there are problematic aspects of Paganism, as there are of all sets of belief - especially one so wide. But it is a very subjective call and not one, I would argue, that should necessarily be made by someone from outside the home. This article also seemed to say - to me at least - that people of Pagan belief do not entirely know their own minds and can be dictated to as a result. A sense that by following an alternate belief, you are somehow opting out, not a part of the mainstream, not pulling your societal weight and so can be told what to do by those who are. And I would suggest that it's saying much the same thing about those with mental illnesses. What do you think?

PS The title today is a play on a tv show which used to be on here in the 70s - "Mass for you at home".